Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Sharon Isbin

Mendelssohn, Isbin & More on The Classical Network

Sure, we’ll have plenty of Mendelssohn today on The Classical Network, on his birthday. We’ll also pay tribute to Palestrina and hear a wacky concerto by Johann Georg Abrechtsberger, who was a teacher of Beethoven. Where Albrechtsberger got the idea he should be writing concertos for Jew’s harp – you know, Snoopy’s favorite instrument – is anybody’s guess. Those concertos also include a solo part for the mandora, a kind of lute popular in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

While we’re on the subject of unbowed strings, at the heart of today’s program will be an interview with Sharon Isbin. Isbin, of course, is one of the great guitarists of our time. She’ll be talking about her new album, of music by Boccherini, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Turina, and Vivaldi, on the Cedille Records label, “Souvenirs of Spain and Italy,” made with the Pacifica Quartet.

Isbin will perform on a gala benefit concert for JCC Thurnauer School of Music, at Bergen County Academies Auditorium, in Hackensack, NJ, this Sunday at 4 p.m. Our conversation will take place this afternoon around 5:00.

Whether you’ve the munchies for Mendelssohn, a palate for Palestrina, or a craving for Castelnuovo-Tedesco, you’ll want to bring your appetite, from 4 to 7 p.m. EST, to WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

February 3, 2020
Celebrating Women in Classical Music Today

It should be a truth universally acknowledged that, historically, women have not been given the same opportunities as men.

Even so, when putting together a checklist for the purpose of today’s programming on The Classical Network, which will be devoted entirely to women in music, I was astonished when the number of women composers that sprang readily to mind overflowed the space I had allotted. Okay, maybe I have a broader knowledge of repertoire than your average man- or person-on-the-street, but there is an awful lot of really fine and/or historically significant repertoire from which to draw.

On the whole, the field has been a lot kinder to female instrumentalists and especially singers. Women being accepted as conductors, however, remains an uphill climb, at least among the major orchestras. But I don’t intend to make this about gender politics. (Lord knows, there are plenty of mediocre male conductors.) Instead, we’ve set aside this day to celebrate the contributions of women to the art and enjoyment of music.

It’s only one of our special themes this week, as we continue to stockpile your contributions against the end of our fiscal year, which will arrive with the chimes of midnight on June 1.

Do you like what we’re doing? Do we add to the quality of your days? Help us help YOU by calling us now at 1-888-232-1212, or by making your contribution online at wwfm.org. As always, we thank you for your support of WWFM – The Classical Network!

A few of the voices we will hear from today: those of (clockwise from left) conductor JoAnn Falletta, guitarist Sharon Isbin, and pianist Barbara Nissman. Then join us at 8 p.m. EDT for a special concert of music by composer Amy Beach (bottom right).

June 26, 2018
Sharon Isbin Guitar at McCarter Princeton

With 25 recordings, four Grammy Awards, and a mastery of repertoire ranging from the baroque to the 21st century, it seems there is nothing guitarist Sharon Isbin can’t do well.

Isbin will appear at McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton on Saturday at 8 p.m. “The theme of the program, for the most part, is folk-inspired music,” she says. “That would include Spain, Latin America – including South America and Cuba – as well as our own country.

“There will be another couple of works that have been written for me, one of which is by Leo Brouwer, which is based on African love stories.” Also on the program will be music by Andrew York, formerly of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, and Bruce MacCombie.

Isbin is the kind of performer composers love to write for. In the case of Brouwer, arguably Cuba’s most celebrated living composer, he sent her, unsolicited, the manuscript of “The Black Decameron.” The piece became an instant classic.

She has also had guitar concertos written for her by a number of other respected composers, including John Corigliano, Tan Dun, Lukas Foss, Christopher Rouse, and Joseph Schwantner.

A 2015 documentary, “Sharon Isbin: Troubadour,” continues to air on PBS stations across the country. The film was a recipient of an ASCAP Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Television Broadcast Award. Videos, including an excerpt from the documentary, news and touring information are posted at her website, http://www.sharonisbin.com.

Isbin will be the first of an impressive triumvirate of performers to appear at McCarter over the course of three days. Iranian-American harpsichord phenomenon Mahan Esfahani will present a stimulating program of works both old and new on Sunday at 3 p.m., and violinist Hilary Hahn will perform Bach, Mozart and Schubert, alongside music by Anton Garcia Abril and Hans Peter Turk, on Monday at 7:30 p.m.

Learn more in my article in today’s Trenton Times.

http://www.nj.com/times-entertainment/index.ssf/2017/03/classical_music_sharon_isbin_m.html

March 17, 2017

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